Procedures for Describing Maritime Boundaries

Geoscience Australia, in collaboration with Government departments and other agencies, and with the approval of the Technical Subcommittee of the Interdepartmental Committee on the Law of the Sea and the Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping, has developed Procedures for Describing Maritime Boundaries which provide instructions relating to the technical aspects of writing maritime boundary descriptions. The procedures are intended as an aid also for Government departments and agencies developing policy in Australia's offshore area.

Because of the complexities of Australia's offshore regime and the range of legislative instruments regulating Australian maritime jurisdiction, this document cannot cover every situation and does not replace the need to seek appropriate legal and geospatial advice. In particular, consultation should be sought early in the process of developing an offshore zone, or limit for any regulatory instrument, on the appropriate methods of dealing with boundaries which may be adjacent to the limit of Coastal Waters, or in the vicinity of Australia's Treaty zones and boundaries, or any other established (proclaimed) offshore zone or limit.

For more information relating to the legal issues of maritime boundaries, please contact: